Rest on the Flight into Egypt
n.d.
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 22.3 × 17 cm (8 13/16 × 6 3/4 in.); Sheet: 22.4 × 17.1 cm (8 7/8 × 6 3/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
45425
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In this etching, Mary and Joseph feast on the fruits of their guardian angels’ labors—harvested from a tall date palm and drawn from a hidden spring—during a respite on their way to Egypt. Simone Cantarini’s broad etching style gives the scene an openness and feeling of immediacy and calm lacking in other treatments of the subject. No vignettes hint at the ghastly Massacre of the Innocents, which the Holy Family has journeyed to avoid. The influence of Cantarini’s one-time teacher Guido Reni is ...
About the Artist
Simone Cantarini · 1612–1648
He was one of the most eminent pupils of Guido Reni and one of the most gifted engravers in the tradition of the Carracci. He had a strong personality and developed a highly original style, which united aspects of Bolognese classicism with a bold naturalism. Comment on works: Religious